Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Enhanced 2 CD Legacy Edition) [Enhanced]

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Sony Legacy
• ASIN: B001W63DYQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,191 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The mesmerizing follow-up to KIND OF BLUE.

SKETCHES OF SPAIN by Miles Davis: Each of Miles' four orchestral album collabo­ra­tions with arranger-composer Gil Evans - Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy And Bess (1958), Sketches Of Spain (1959), and Quiet Nights (1962) - was a masterwork in its own right. Sketches was Miles' first post-Kind Of Blue project, and retains that LP's modal feel on the 16-minute version of Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez,' the inspira­tion for Davis and Evans. Liner notes for the 2009 edition of SKETCHES are written by composer academician Gunther Schuller, whose hundreds of accomplishments in jazz include playing French horn for Miles on the 1949-50 Birth Of The Cool sessions. SKETCHES was recorded in 1959 and released in 1960.

This historic edition presents the original album augmented by alternate and extra tracks, illustrating how this synergy developed. "The Maids of Cádiz" (from the 1957 album Miles Ahead) is the first example of Gil Evans adapting a composition of Spanish origin for an orchestral collaboration with Miles. The live performance of "Concierto de Aranjuez," the only such ever given, took place in Carnegie Hall in 1961, offering a rare, heightened performance of this centerpiece. "Teo," (from the 1961 album Someday My Prince Will Come) a small group piece dedicated to Producer Teo Macero, is simpatico with "Solea"--the other jewel from the original album, with its orchestral palette that is, in a word, sublime.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SKETCHES OF SPAIN-50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, May 26, 2009

By 

Stuart Jefferson (San Diego,Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Enhanced 2 CD Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)

Two discs 45,70 minutes each approximately. The sound is clean and crisp. There is good separation between Davis' horn and the orchestra. The booklet is informative,with long notes by Gunther Schuller. There is a PDF file,that when accessed from one of the discs,gives more information and insight into this music.

When this album was originally released DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE gave it five stars,calling it one of the most important musical triumphs of the century.

By now,most Davis listeners are in one of two major groups-the first feels that this is nothing but glorified "elevator music" with a bit of Davis' horn woven in,and that this new release is only another way for the music business to "cash-in" on Davis' name. The second group finds this music evocative and very emotionally moving,maybe even a bit daring (for the time)with Davis and Gil Evans decision to rely so heavily on orchestral passages,on which Davis attaches his horn,which only deepens the mood. In between these two groups are listeners who feel that this is yet another path in the overall maze of amazing music from Miles Davis. You can either continue down this path,or turn away and head in another direction. By this time most listeners know the basis for this music,and how Gil Evans built upon the Spanish themes,and together with Davis,forged the third (and most deeply orchestrated) album of Davis' career. Davis has said in his autobiography that he needed musicians that could read music and play it with no,or little, feeling,and others who played with a great amount of feeling. What Davis found when he recorded this album was that he had to read the score over a few times,then listen to it a few times-then play it. He felt this was the correct way to approach music (especially "Concierto de Aranjuez") that was heavily arranged and where he had to play his trumpet/flugal horn in emulation of the original female vocal (on the track "Saeta",which is also here,too,in it's full length version) which he found difficult to do. The end result was an album that was (and is )still popular-even though Davis himself has said that he was physically and mentally drained,and he didn't hear the album until it was released. After listening to it he said (again in his autobiography) that the album had little impact on him personally.

This new edition has over an hour of bonus material,including the only piece of music from this ("Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)"), album performed live with Gil Evans. This piece of music was released in 1987,on the album LIVE MILES:MORE MUSIC FROM THE LEGENDARY CARNEGIE HALL CONCERT. The extra music consists of alternate tracks,that help show the process both Evans and Davis went through to achieve the final album. All the bonus material was released in 1996,on MILES DAVIS & GIL EVANS:THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA STUDIO RECORDINGS. The one outtake at the end of disc one was issued on Davis' album DIRECTIONS,in 1980. Included is the track "The Maids of Cadiz"(track 1 disc 2) from MILES AHEAD from the album released in 1957 only because it's an example of Evans' adaptation of a Spanish composition. There is nothing really startling in these tracks. However,if you're one of those listeners that find much to like in the original release,you'll like this. Davis' trumpet is solemn and his timbre is just right for the feeling these arrangements have on listeners. The range of moods is extraordinary on this set and through several listenings more of the seemingly disparate pieces seem to connect in new and slightly different ways,depending on your mood.

This will definitely fill the need for those listeners who find this album to be one of Davis' finer efforts. For others,perhaps they need to take a second listen to some very gorgeous music,that Gil Evans and Miles Davis recorded all those years ago.

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles' and Gil's original Iberian excursion, extended and improved in a fine package, November 15, 2011

By 

Archer Books "Archer Books" (Dubai UAE) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Enhanced 2 CD Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)

As most readers familiar with Miles Davis' music will know, `Sketches of Spain' recorded in 1959-60 was his third and final collaborative project with orchestral arranger Gil Evans. The original album release, distilled from the recording sessions, explored the musical styles of the Iberian Peninsula and has a distinctive feel quite different from Miles' other work: listeners familiar with classical music who never previously connected with jazz often found SoS to be an accessible gateway to other innovative jazz compositions of the era.

The opener was an extended re-interpretation of the second (slow) movement of J. Roderigo's modern impressionist-classical piece `Concierto di Aranjuez', which Miles listened to repeatedly in 1959 and declared "I couldn't get it out of my mind." Gil's orchestration for an ensemble of brass and woodwind anchors the melody, is faithful to Roderigo's score and captures the spirit of the piece to perfection. It is more classical (i.e. rigid) in structure than normally found in jazz, allowing only constrained improvisation around the melody. In re-interpreting Roderigo's score for the guitar, Miles responded to the more formalised framework with understated mastery and worked with the orchestra to fine result. Roderigo, by the way, didn't like it: the brass-dominated orchestral sound too much of a departure from his vision; the absence of the Spanish guitar at the heart of the piece, and the second movement of the concerto removed from the context of the faster and more upbeat first and third movements not at all to the composer's taste. However, in the context of the other pieces on Miles and Gil's "Sketches of Spain" it fits perfectly and sets the mood.

`Will o' the Wisp', `The Pan Piper' and `Saeta', each different but blending seamlessly with `Aranjuez' in style and confirming the mood, completed the original album. The long closer, `Solea' (12.08) was an attention-grabber grounded on Gil's percussion-dominant orchestration, an invitation to which Miles responds with intelligence and expressive sensitivity to weave a fine tapestry filled with moments of tension and delight, still in the Iberian mode.

The CD cover-presentation of this extended 2-disk edition is (confusingly) identical to that of the original album: the 50/50 bright yellow-sky red-earth impressionistic sketch overlaid with black titling and small silhouette of a trumpet player in profile. The content, however, features a lot of new material and, IMO, is worth having even if you have the original single disk.

The 70 minutes or so of new material, mainly on the second disk, includes `The Maids of Cadiz' previously released on `Miles Ahead' in 1957, and genuinely at home nested here amongst Evans' main body of Iberian-inspired orchestral work with Miles. Several alternate takes of CdA are offered, previously available only on the 1996 release `The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings', plus the only extant audience-live recording of the piece with Gil Evans conducting the orchestra, previously available on the 1987-released `The Legendary Carnegie Hall Concert'. Other new material includes two versions of `Song of our Country' and an interesting closing piece, `Teo.' A pdf file may be accessed from the disks and a well-written and professionally produced booklet with fine photography from the sessions and notes written by Gunther Schuller completes the package.

Some great photos of Gil and Miles are included. Overall, at the offer price, this is the best version of `Sketches of Spain' to buy: you get all the music with great sound resolution, and a lot more besides.

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles Davis, Sketchs of Spain, October 9, 2011

By 

Paul E. Potter "Professor of Communication" (Abilene, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Enhanced 2 CD Legacy Edition) (Audio CD)

My favorite rendition ofconcierto de aranjuez. I heard this some years ago - sold my record collection when we moved to Alaska. As I've rebuilt my collection (now on CDs) I was glad to find this enhanced 50th Anniversary Edition. I've always been pleased with my purchases from Amazon.